HHS honors 37 hospitals for combating infections

May 03, 2011

HHS on Monday for the first time recognized 37 hospitals and health care systems for their efforts to combat health care-associated infections (HAIs), which affect one in every 20 U.S. patients and cost the nation billions of dollars per year.

In collaboration with the Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC), HHS created the new national awards program to recognize successful and continued efforts to combat HAIs, especially in critical care settings. The awards highlight hospital efforts in two areas: prevention of central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) and prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Each organization received either the Outstanding Leadership Award for meeting infection-prevention goals for at least 25 months, or the Sustained Improvement Award for consistent progress across an 18-to-24-month period.

Ten award recipients were recognized on Monday during an American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) exposition in Chicago. The remaining 27 organizations will be recognized throughout the year at other CCSC events.

"These awards strive to motivate clinicians, hospital executives, and facilities to improve clinical practice so the health care community cannot only reduce, but eventually eliminate health care-associated infections," AACN's director of professional practice and programs said. "The awards recognize teams of critical care professionals whose notable achievements lead the way toward achieving this goal."